Any advice for this option please.

jcr16

looking at your spending , i can't personally see anything that jumps in the face as being too much. apart from your food and clothing bill.
i spent £200 a month on food , toiletress etc for a family of 2 adults and 1 two year old and a 5 month old. both kids in nappies , we have 2 cats and all have huge appetites. we eat very well and never hungary.
also £50 on clothes that a great deal. i sell my childrens out grown clothes on ebay and then use that money to fund buying them more clothes from ebay. children grow so fast , and i can't afford to always buy new. tbh i don't ever buy them new unless it a special occasion , i just can't afford to.
it is amazing when you start to find ways of cutting back how easy you find it , and it can be enjoyable as u start to think , do i really need that even a 40p bar of choc and u then think , no i dont and that's an extra 40p towards a credit card.

homersimpson_3

You are 40k in debt and so need to cut expenses to bone:

1)what is Insurance misc 12?
2)Electricity 46 & Gas 69 seem extortionate- shop round for better deal
3)Phone 35- if mobile change to payg- why is mobile essential ? does this include landline
4)Internet 35- get rid or shop round for better deal
5)Food Shopping 400- why so high? A family of 2 adults and 3 children can live far more cheaply than this,.
6)Kids Clothes 50- why so high?
7)Fuel 260, Road Tax 10, Insurance 45, Breakdown cover 10, Maintenance 25, Train fares 40- why can’t you sell both cars and use public transport? Car share?
“Bar finding a cupboard full of Gucci handbags and shoes”- sell them and use money to target towards debt.
Whilst you seem very determined i would also reiterate the warnings given – be very careful in adding to your mortgage because (1) debt secured on your home (2) house prices can fall aswell as rise and this can lead to negative equity. good luck whatever you decide.

Louiseuk25

You also say you have some 'modest savings'-would it be a sensible option to use the savings to offset part of your debts. Every little helps....

HLK

I don't know what others think of this, but it may be prudent to find some income protection... depends on your job of course but not many are completely safe these days, personal experience unfortunately! Once you get everything ironed out, it will all hinge on your ability to bring home the salary. If the endowment turns out to be better mais paid-up or sold then some of the money for that could provide cover. Oh and , shop around!
One thing I did notice is that, your current mortgage payments seem quite high for £68k.. assuming they should be interest only and covered by the endowmernt... or are you paying capital as well?

crisis_management

Hi; i'm in a similar situation wuth a similar credit card debt to income ratio, and probably a similar equity in my property. My first thought was to remortgage; but at age 40 plus 3 kids I didn't want to squander their future, plus I didn't really trust myself not to overspend in the future. I have decided to go down to payment of everthing possible to the cards line, while trying to get a 0% option on some of the debt - if possible!. It's going to be painful, but at least it forces you to budget +++!
Hope you do well; this is seriously scary.

Regards, crisis